Our Raspberry Hefeweizen is a true fruit beer, not a fruit-flavored beer. We add pureed raspberries to our Hefeweizen during the primary fermentation process. Although we add no sugar, color or flavors, the resulting beer is a hazy pink color, with citrus aromas from the wheat and a flavor that is neat and tart. While this beer is low in bitterness, it is not overwhelmingly sweet, making it a thoroughly drinkable beer for the season.

In Belgium, fruit beers are quite popular and brewers often include wheat, along with malted barley. While our Raspberry Hefeweizen is not a true Belgian fruit beer, we have carried on the tradition of adding real fruit to fermenting beer. Today, many beers with fruit character are made with a fruit extract; we prefer to use the actual fruit to avoid any chemical or artificially sweet undertones in the beer.

T: Fairly sweet in the opening, the tart qualities of the raspberries show up in the middle along with a dry biscuit. Some of the sweetness returns along with spice (clove perhaps) in the finish.

M: Medium and dry.

O: By itself, nothing is wrong with Schlafly's hefe. It is not too sweet, and it is refreshing. The qualities of a hefe are taken over by the raspberry, but not enough to make the beer terrible. Yet, when I compare it with Harpoon's similar creation, the beer does not succeed as well. As is often the fate with many beers, this one is drinkable, perhaps pleasant, but it is not moving.

More User Reviews:

Fresh red raspberries in the nose. The tartness more so than the flavor of them sits on the wheat foundation. Subtle fruit/sugar appears in the finish. Interesting take on the hefeweizen style, and the malt itself is solid, but the raspberriness makes it hard to imagine looking forward to opening a second.

12 oz bottle pours the color of blush wine. One finger pinkish to coral head quickly falls. Some patchy lace left behind. Shimmering carbonation is apparent through the hazy body. Aroma is subdued, raspberries, wheat, and yeast. Mouthfeel is lightbodied with crisply aggressive carbonation. Taste is subdued, Lively carbonation is the dominant trait. Hints of raspberry, yeast, and grainy wheat. No fruit sweetness. Finishes clean and crisp. Refreshing, but insubstantial. A run of the mill, American fruit beer.

Light brown in color with a hint of pink and a cloudy complexion. Light Brussels lacing. A fingernail thin white head rests on top. Aroma is of tart raspberry purée. The taste is sharp,tart raspberries and pale wheat. The body is fairly carbonated. Appearance: 3.5Aroma:3.75Taste: 3.25Mouthfeel: 3.25Overall: 3.25

Pours a kool-aid red with a smallish fizzy white head. Smells of raspberry but doesn't try to jump out of the glass at you. Tastes mildy sweet with the obvious fruit dominating. Solid wheat body gives it a lift. Mouthfeel is moderate but it would be hard for me to drink more than one of these.

I bought a 6 pack of this beer from Cellar Rat in the Crossroads. I really should have known better. I dont do fruit beers, typically.

It doesnt really taste like beer with a raspberry tang as much as it tastes like a beer cocktail with raspberry flavored soda. I didnt hate it. I didnt love it. I drank one, and left the other 5 in my fridge, hopefully to offer to a more girlier girl than me.

It smelled a little sweet, like raspberry candy, when I opened it. It poured into my glass pink (pink!) but with mild cloudiness and beer-like qualities, so it didnt look like pink lemonade or anything. It settled to a orangey-pink color with a light pink head of foam. The flavor of the beer wasnt raspberry, as in fresh raspberries, but rather raspberry-flavoring, like Kool-Aid. Kind of artificial. There were underlying beer flavors, to be sure, like some yeast and malts, and the slightest twinge of wheat.

To be fair, I dont like raspberry beers brewed by other brewers either, so I don't know what I was thinking when I bought it. I guess I was trying to keep an open mind. The answer is that I still dont like it.

Tastes like it smells. Again, no real hefe character, just sweet raspberry candy at first and a sharp twang near the end (like eating a real raspberry). Sweet and malty, but pretty one sided (as are most non-lambic fruit beers that I've tried).

Mouthfeel is medium and chewy, and drinkability is okay but I wouldn't really drink more than say...two or three. A good fruit beer for the novelty of it's raspberry flavor, but this is nothing special.

The now-limited-bottle version of this ale pours a beauty of a rosy red, semi-cloudy hue. The head is off-white and minimal, but the color sure is unique. Some raspberry notes and citrus on the nose. The body is creamy up front, the raspberry presence is quite noticeable, almost a jelly on hot toast taste. Malt presence as she warms, becomes somewhat tarty and rounds out a bit. Perhaps some wheat notes, yeast and toasted bread in the body, again very creamy and sharp. This is a tough style to nail, but Schlafly is tracking with this one; looking forward to sampling a few pints on tap, until then, a great offering for the hot weather, can you say "change of pace".